Major Averages Turn Mixed After Seeing Initial Strength - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks have turned mixed over the course of the trading session on Monday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have pulled back into negative territory, while the Dow is holding on to a modest gain.

While the Dow is up 50.56 points or 0.2 percent at 23,361.75, the Nasdaq is down 27.49 points or 0.4 percent at 7,092.31 and the S&P 500 is down 4.35 points or 0.2 percent at 2,665.56.

The mixed performance on Wall Street comes as traders are looking ahead to several key events later this week, including the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Earnings news is also likely to be in focus in the coming days, with a number of big-name companies scheduled to release their quarterly results.

Apple (AAPL), Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), Yum! Brands (YUM), MetLife (MET), Tesla (TSLA), DowDuPont (DWDP), Kellogg (K), and Sprint (S) are among the companies due to report their results.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on the latest economic data, including the Labor Department's closely watched economic report due on Friday.

If that were not enough for traders to digest, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are due to travel to Beijing next week to hold trade talks with Chinese officials.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing personal income increased by slightly less than expected in the month of March.

The report said personal income rose by 0.3 percent in March, matching the downwardly revised increase in February. Economists had expected income to climb by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending climbed by 0.4 percent in March after coming in unchanged in the previous month. The increase in spending matched economist estimates.

A separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed pending home sales increased by less than expected in the month of March.

NAR said its pending home sales index rose by 0.4 percent to 107.6 in March from a downwardly revised 107.2 in February. Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.9 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Sector News

Gold stocks have shown a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.8 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery sliding $8.50 to $1,314.90 an ounce.

Considerable weakness has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Telecom, semiconductor, and computer hardware stocks have also moved notably lower on the day, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher in light trading, as markets in Japan and mainland China were closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.7 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction following the rebound seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 2.948 percent.